Wycombe’s new deputy area commander said she is “over the moon” to be back at the station where she started her career nearly 20 years ago.

Chief Inspector Rebecca Mears has taken over the senior position after Chief Inspector Colin Seaton retired last year.

CI Mears “learned her bread and butter policing” at High Wycombe Police Station, where she joined the force in 1996.

She said: “I wanted to be a police officer since I was a very young child. I think because of my drive and passion to want to do right by people.”

CI Mears added: “I’m over the moon to be back in Wycombe. It’s really nice to come back because I know the area, I know some of the people who were here when I last moved on and the police station and all its staff are at the heart of that community and it will be nice to see it continue to grow and develop.”

As well as targeting serious offences, CI Mears lists her other priorities as promoting community cohesion and dealing with crimes that affect people’s quality of life, such as anti social behaviour.

CI Mears grew up in Buckinghamshire and went to school in Beaconsfield. During her time at High Wycombe Police Station she was a beat officer for Micklesfield.

She went on to specialise in the criminal investigation unit (CID) and the protecting vulnerable people (PVP) unit.

CI Mears worked at High Wycombe Police Station for about five years before moving into other areas of policing within the Thames Valley.

Part of the deputy area commander’s role is to make sure Wycombe’s officers are equipped to deliver the services to the public that are so important. But in order to do this the police chief stressed the importance of residents giving them information and telling them what is going on in the community.

She also emphasised the importance of constant communication between the police, their partners, such as businesses, local authorities and charity groups, and residents.

Speaking on ways in which the force has changed since she left High Wycombe nearly 20 years ago, the chief inspector said national policing has evolved during the course of her career, which has had an effect on local policing.

One example of this is the change in the way police deal with domestic abuse cases.

CI Mears said domestic abuse units did not “exist in the same way that they exist now” and that, in her view, such changes have been for the better.